Tag Archives: YA

January 14, 2012 · 5:16 pm

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Finally finished it… and after 545 pages (in the ARC) I want it to keep going… so the wait begins, again, for the next installment.

How does an author touch one’s heart so profoundly? What did she do that’s just right? The pacing is perfect – without much battle or fight scenes. I knew the general direction that the story must follow and felt rewarded, rather than bored, when the story arc falls neatly where I anticipated — but, also surprised along the way with many little bits and pieces that Cashore masterfully inserted into the story to make it even more intriguing and the world even more realized.

The book is, though, filled with so much sorrow that one can almost not bear reading through. I hope young people (14 and up?) will not be as horrified as us older readers by Leck’s astrocity on his victims and his forced accomplices. I am amazed at the sympathy I felt toward him — the pure evil embodiment through the 3 books — and how damaged a mind and what a torture chamber that mind is for himself.

Glad to see the other beloved characters from Graceling and Fire and can’t wait to see what the next, culminating kind of story Cashore will bring us.

And — Kristin, please don’t worry about publishing the next book right away. We can wait. And if you are having trouble telling the next story, go do something else. Go write something else. Go present your insights on Fantasy world building, on character development, on capturing emotional truths, etc. to the world. Thank you so much for a most affecting story!

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January 6, 2012 · 8:56 pm

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

I absolutely enjoyed the many separate pieces in the book — thinking that each chapter can be treated as a short story since there is always a beginning and an end and not too much set up is needed to comprehend most of them. There are some really intensely gory and cringe-inducing scenes and a couple tales border on horror. Some are heart-warming, too.

One thing that I couldn’t quite get over, though, was the unevenness in keeping to the rules that the author set up for himself: That, supposedly, each piece in the book is a “translation” of something the “narrator” gathered from a massive electronic archive with audio, video, text, etc. — recorded history of various participants in the Robot Uprising and the global warfare afterwards. However, instead of using a 3rd person, observational tone, Wilson chose to tell many of these heroes’ stories from a first person point of view — EVEN if the recordings themselves are from an exterior angle. (And I just noticed that the first few stories are more in keeping with this framework — some stories are from a third person viewpoint while others are supposedly “narrated” by the participants themselves as interviewees or writers, etc. — but that consistency gradually fell apart and at the end there is a lot of “I” and how “I” felt even though the gathered records couldn’t have provided those perspectives.) And some of the voices are not quite in keeping with the characters themselves — or at least, not quite distinctive to be discernibly different from each other, even though some of these characters are drastically different in backgrounds and should probably have different tones. — Although I guess I can accept it because many of them are told from the reporter/archivist’s “voice.” (However, then why are they told from the “I” perspective?)

Still, I can see many readers enjoying the stories and gobbling up the scenes with relish!  And, I am so enamored with the cover design!

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November 13, 2011 · 9:35 am

Okay for Now

 by Gary Schmidt

Tenderness.  As a reader, I felt surge after surge of tenderness toward this 14-year-old young man, emotionally and physically abused by a few, supported and understood and nurtured by many.  And, so tenacious, so strong, and so smart, not to mention, so talented.  Yes, Schmidt did create a character that is much larger than life whose story would have been implausible or unbelievable.  In Schmidt’s apt hand, however, with genuine emotions and a large dosage of wit, Doug’s 8th grade year in Marysville feels archetypal and heroic.  Like the Audubon paintings that serve as the scaffolding for the plot, the artistic stitchings and planning for the storytelling are visible every step of the way, and yet the final outcome is a pure force of nature.  How does one explain it except that the story obviously came from both deep within a compassionate heart and a practiced and diligent hand.

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November 4, 2011 · 10:11 am

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

This is one gorgeously written book. Laini Taylor knows how to create a fresh, inventive fantasy world of dark and unsettling magic and she writes with such relish of words and phrase turns that I felt I was treated to a feast of poetry and imagination. And I loved every bite and sip. And because she knew how to portion her offerings, at the end of the long meal, I felt simply satisfied and not overly stuffed. I fell in love with Karou, the 17-year-old main character who straddles the human and the “monster” worlds. She is artistic, fiercely loyal, and full of mystery. And that love sustains throughout the tale. The Madrigal chapters slow down the pace a bit and I did get a bit impatient to get back to the Karou story (although Madrigal’s IS part of her tale, too, the placement and the length of this part did disrupt the flow of the telling for me) and was a bit annoyed that the story does not end at the conclusion of this volume.

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August 29, 2011 · 8:36 am

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Author: Patrick Ness
Performer/Reader: Nick Podehl
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
CDs: 10 (12 hours)
Pub Date: 10/28/2010 and 9/13/2011

MY RESPONSE
Fascinated, engrossed, emotionally affected, and admiring are some of the adjectives I associated with the experience of listening to this brilliant book, and its equally brilliant reader performer, Nick Podehl.  Podehl chose a rustic set of tones for all of his characters. With slight variations for each speaking role, he is entirely convincing as the innocent and willful Todd, the mild, intelligent but bewildered Viola, the the crazed cult leader Aaron, the faithful dog Manchee, and a host of other supporting characters.  Of course, the power of the story comes largely from the author: the imagination that created this futuristic and yet backward world, the skilled hand that penned the breathtaking pace which will NOT let go of the reader’s heart, and the thoughtful mind that wove in so many issues and themes for the readers to ponder.I find the device of the “virus” that forcefully and artificially separates men and women and how they share/not share their thoughts with others ingenious, and as a female reader, agreeing with some of the scenarios.  (I wonder how male readers view this aspect.)Manchee the dog is endearing and with such a sorrowful fate which gives the book and Todd one powerful push in the direction it/he needs to move.  I can’t wait to listen to the rest of the trilogy!  (And my apologies to Monica for not heeding her enthusiastic recommendation for the past couple of years to read this series much earlier!)
SOMETHING ABOUT THE BOOK/RECORDING
This is a thrilling dystopian science fiction story with a very Western flavor: the characters carry rifles, farm the land, and have abandoned all modern technologies in a far off planet in an uncertain (but must be very distant) future. Lots of harrowing scenarios, people (and animals) die, and it ends with a gigantic cliff hanger.  It touches on the topics of religion, of organized crimes, of government styles, of how men and women interact, and of the nature of evil.

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May 30, 2011 · 9:14 am

Mistborn: The Final Empire

Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)by Brandon Sanderson

It’s been a while that I felt surprised, so pleasantly, by freshly designed magic system and layers of intriguing twists in any book. This novel came out more than 5 years ago and I have been hearing about it from a trusted friend for quite some time. I’m so pleased that I finally had the pleasure to experience it. And this pleasure includes both laughter and tears.

Not only does the book have wonderfully fun magic (Allomancy and Feruchemy — both using Metals to enhance human inherent abilities,) contains within are some unforgettable characters: each one is well drawn, distinct, and most of them are so admirable that you don’t want them to leave the scene (but some of them HAVE to.. and it is heart breaking when it happens. Even a character who’s never made a physical appearance in the story becomes endearing in the last chapter.)

I am going to be championing this book from now on!!!

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May 8, 2011 · 7:38 am

Days Gone By: #1 of The Walking Dead

Days Gone Bye (The Walking Dead, #1)by Robert Kirkman

The first installment in the long series focuses mostly on the relationships of the living with the backdrop of extreme hardship of the zombie plague. I imagine that that will be the flavor for the rest of the series. The author does a great job capturing the characters’ traits and presenting the interplays between characters with conflicting interests. The tension is high, the dialog realistic, and the artwork is well executed. Now I have to read the rest of the series!

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May 5, 2011 · 9:59 am

Beauty Queens

Beauty Queensby Libba Bray

It’s not easy to categorize this book. There is a little bit of everything — actually, there are A LOT of everything, and almost every “disadvantaged” group of characters: a transgendered former boy band member, a hearing-impaired dancer, a mechanically talented lesbian, a second generation South East Asian overachiever, an African American overachiever, a dumb blond, a sex-maniac teen, a die-heart beauty queen – and a host of other supporting characters and villains. There lies the strength and the weakness of the book: it covers many possible grounds and actually treats all these characters sensitively and with depth; and it loses focus sometimes because all the varied characters and their back stories are told alternatively and at times the readers are pulled into the past when we want to move forward with the plot. It feels too much like the subject (reality TV and mass media) that the author set out to mock. Again, that could be a strength, if one views it and appreciates the intent; or it could be a distraction — at times, the readers might feel completely overloaded by the bombardment of so much farcical humor. I might have loved the book a bit more if some parts are better pruned. I am trying to understand the conceit of the book being published by The Corporation while it paints quite truthfully all the evil dealings the Cooperation sponsored. Perhaps, it is fitting: since the Cooperation only cares about profit margin and a Tell-it-All probably generates the highest monetary return, they don’t even care that it makes the Cooperation the arch-villain in the telling.

Very meta.

Just an aside: as a native of Republic of China – ROC, every time I see the Republic of ChaCha – ROC, with its grotesque dictator on display, I had the visceral cringing reaction. But, that’s just me.

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December 6, 2010 · 10:23 pm

Pathfinder

Pathfinder (Serpent World, #1)by Orson Scott Card

I really can’t decide whether I enjoyed this book or totally couldn’t stand it. On the one hand, I LOVE the ideas and the weird (but almost plausible the way Card presents them) time/space travel ideas; on the other hand, the story moves at a snail’s pace and so much information gets repeated so many times after I already “GOT” the ideas and just wanted to see some action or some emotional exchanges.

Some reviewers claim that Pathfinder is like Ender’s Game. I cannot disagree more. I think, at most, it is like Xenocide and Children of the Mind: in their focusing on Card’s leaping scientific (but fantastic) complexities and strong political/social maneuvering discourses and also in that Card did not place as strong an emphasis on the impeccable pacing and climax-building as he did for both Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow.

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December 6, 2010 · 8:35 pm

Good Omens

Good Omensby Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

This is just a total delight to read. I marked pages and wanted to record all the humorous metaphors and turn of phrases. Two ingenious literary minds worked seamlessly together to create something that I’d like to just flip to any random page in the future and get either a chuckle or be amazed again. This book makes me want to memorize quotes!

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September 28, 2010 · 5:18 pm

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shortyby G. Neri

The topic and the actual event are so much more powerful than the book itself. I find the narrative voice (supposedly a fairy young child’s) unconvincing and slips into mere reporting for the majority of the tale. It does not really move me.

As to the graphic/art part of the book: I thought to myself, “Oh, the graphics quality will be improved, touched up, and finessed, and the face of the same character will be more consistently drawn so the readers won’t be confused… in the final book… ” … but then realized that I WAS reading the published book, not an ARC.  Slightly puzzled by my own less than lukewarm reception since it has received a starred review and high praises from several reviewers.  Someone, convince me!

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September 12, 2010 · 4:43 pm

Nightshade

Nightshade (Nightshade, #1)by Andrea Cremer

The cover is pretty. Many people really like this but I simply found myself disconnected and aloof the entire time reading the story. It’s inventive at moments — the history and the societal structure of the “werewolves” clan are quite refreshing, and I can definitely see it being enjoyed by teens or even pre-teens. It’s just not a ground shifting kind of experience for me.

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August 29, 2010 · 3:09 pm

Mockingjay Delivers!

Mockingjayby Suzanne Collins

The story of my obtaining the book first:

I was distraught when I realized that I would be vacationing on a cruise in Bermuda on the release day of Mockingjay. I searched the Internet and found a bookstore (The Bermuda Bookstore). I emailed them an order for the book. A week ago, they emailed me back and informed me that the book was already available in the store. But, of course, I couldn’t get the book until this past Wednesday when we docked. We docked in Hamilton. The bookstore is 3 blocks away and lovely! Due to the no-tax Bermudian law, I paid $18.00 for the book! (No surcharges for pre-order or overseas order.)

Since the moment I got the book, I carried it everywhere and tried to read as much as I could: at the beach, on the boat taking the family to dive and to the coral studded ocean floor, in the dining area when everyone else was lounging or eating their meals…. (And the book took a little dip in the wading pool when I slipped and fell into the shallow water – but banging my head against the hard tiled floor…)

Finally, before coming home, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of miles south east of New York City, I finished the book last night. Here are just a brief summary of my reactions:

I truly appreciated how Collins carefully planned and fluidly executed this emotionally authentic conclusion of the trilogy. Loved the surprises and the turns of events. (Although, I definitely predicted the final event from quite a while back, I wonder if young readers who are less jaded would have seen it coming… I hope this comes to them as a true surprise and satisfyingly so!)

I was really afraid of a heightened romantic element hyped by the Team-Peeta/Team-Gale promotion that could potentially spoil the story, which, to me, is much more about how humans and humans with powers function in our society, and much less about just whom Katniss would wind up with! Collins weaves the love-triangle side-tale and the relationships into the thematic structure of narrative beautifully and I am completely pleased with how the events of these three characters unfold and end.

I only wish that there had been more interesting and inventive technologies and strategies that were so prominent and make for a more exciting SciFi read. But that is only a slight dissatisfaction from a SciFi junky.

Here are some other things I really loved about the book:

Those little word plays and allusions in the book: Like Coin’s name. She is the “other side of the same coin” as Snow. Or Katniss’s squadron is 451 and things BURN and she burns…

I thought the “real/not real” game is a very clever symbol for the whole trilogy: the dichotomy of what real life is and what is captured on screen and of what the leaders of District 13 says they are working toward and the reality of how they carry out their goals. And of course, it works so beautifully at the end when Katniss and Peeta chatted about their lives and life together.

This book, as many have stated, feels different than book 1 and 2, because it is a book of revelations, especially Katniss’s revelations about herself and her world. I like her as a character so much more in this installment. I’d say that Mockingjay delivers!

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June 5, 2010 · 8:06 am

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

by John Green and David Levithan

Both John Green and David Levithan are known for their witticism, and both also have created stories where things get out of hand, and the reality just seems larger than life/real — I often think of it as “ultra realism.”  And in Will Grayson, Will Grayson, you get a double dose of this over-the-top tone: Their nerds are just nerdier, their gay characters gayer, their jokes funnier, their sorrows more desperate, and their big finale of a High School Musical is so improbable that readers just have to suspend ALL disbelief (WILLINGLY) and simply enjoy the ride.

I enjoyed it for sure.  I laughed out loud many times — both are so good at coming up with amazingly intelligent and painfully truthful funny one-liners (or one-paragraphers.)

What intrigued me the whole way was how these two YA superstar authors collaborated.  Did they challenge each other with surprising scenarios or was it all planned out?  Am I right in assuming that one wrote the Gay Will Grayson part and the other the Straight Will Grayson part?  Who wrote which?  (I thought I got it down from the beginning but now I’m not so entirely sure!)

One of my high school students read the book (a big Levithan fan, didn’t know John Green and now became a fan, too) and did not love love it because it reminds this student too much of the REAL life drama that goes on around the group of friends.  It probably is painful.

No matter how ultra realistic this novel is, so much truth is dragged up from the bottom of a teenager’s heart that one cannot but admire the authors’ deep connection with their own inner teens and their abilities to capture all those feelings in words.

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May 31, 2010 · 3:53 pm

Incarceron (Chapter 32 – Gasp and Tears)

by Catherine Fisher

This is indeed a book worthy of note, worthy of passion, and worthy of thought. It amazed me how I could only guess at the truth about Incarceron as I read and when ALL the truth is unveiled, there are still many many things I want to know and now am eager to read the next installment.

I really want to know more about each major character and really need to know how things are going to turn out for both the INside and the Outside. I even feel sorry for the Prison — the synthetic se…more This is indeed a book worthy of note, worthy of passion, and worthy of thought. It amazed me how I could only guess at the truth about Incarceron as I read and when ALL the truth is unveiled, there are still many many things I want to know and now am eager to read the next installment.

I really want to know more about each major character and really need to know how things are going to turn out for both the INside and the Outside. I even feel sorry for the Prison — the synthetic sentient being that can never escape itself. SOOOO good :) *sigh* *content*

The title of this post records my reaction to the revelation that’s hidden from the readers (although a lot of clues that made me think of this possibility and that Jared and Claudia already discovered some shocking evidence by then) for most of the book (34 chapters in all.)  Reading these passages (on pages 411 and 412 in the 2010 Dial HD edition) made me shudder and brought involuntary tears to my eyes.  Brilliant and horrifying and unfathomable… but so believable once you’ve lived through the book as its faithful reader.

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April 29, 2010 · 1:27 pm

The Witch’s Boy

by Michael Gruber

This is a highly nuanced book, although toward the end the “message” is a bit too spelled-out for my taste. I kept feeling that this is not a book for children, but a cautionary tale for adults who plan to raise children of their own: the do’s and the don’t’s, through fantastic settings, vividly portrayed magical characters, and fairy tale re-envisionings. I’m not sure how well received this tale might be to a young reader who had not already loved the high fantasy genre or had not been familiar with the original stories. To me — it is entirely satisfying, being a mother, a fairy tale lover, and a fantasy fan.

What’s so remarkable of the book is Michael Gruber’s finely honed, poetic and yet not at all sappy tone. I thoroughly appreciate the talent and craftsmanship of his writing!

 

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April 22, 2010 · 10:13 am

Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

I’m so glad that I finally got around to read Uglies — a popular book amongst many of my students, mostly girls. Now that I have read it, I have to adjust my perception of it 180 degrees — it is NOT a book for just girls; it is NOT really a YA-only book; it has a LOT of adventurous actions; it has QUITE A BIT of complexities. A gripping read and I will promote it to both boys and girls, to SciFi readers, and to those who want to think hard and dig deep into a world of dystopia.

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April 5, 2010 · 10:05 pm

The Illustrated Mum

by Jacqueline Wilson

Being my second time reading the book, I had the opportunity to pay more attention to Wilson’s incredible talent in portraying her characters without being shocked or distracted by the harrowing experiences that Dolphin must suffer through, growing up and living with a mother who is mentally unstable.  It amazes me how the reader can just “listen” to a couple of sentences and “see” a few gestures or facial expressions from a character and become totally aware of this character’s personality, even predicting his/her future behaviors.

There are definitely some flaws in Wilson’s plotting: the finding of Dolpin’s father is not only far-fetched, it also seems unnecessary from a plot-construction aspect.  It also does not necessarily serve an emotional relief for the character.  The foster mother and the return of Star, combined with Marigold’s treatment, might do the trick to reassure both Dolphin and the young readers that hope and a brighter future is on the horizon.

This is the April 2010 Children’s Literature Circle selection.

(Children’s Literature Circle is a monthly Faculty book group that I run at my school.)

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March 11, 2010 · 2:27 pm

The Enemy

Enemy, theby Charlie Higson
(This cover is the British version.)

It was a gripping read, to say the least. Really enjoyed how there are multiple story-lines and view points from several key characters. A bit surprised (and slightly let-down?) at the ending where things are left really open and is a set-up for a sequel without truly wrapping up the tale at hand. Now I am itching to read the next installment and feel a bit cheated by this dangling bait of a last chapter. The number of times where the adult zombies are described in gruesome details seems a bit on the excessive side — after the 10th vivid Enemy, I kind of had enough — so the subsequent drools, flabby skin, boils, rotten flesh, green ooze, etc. were simply skimmed over by this reader who was more interested in the next plot twist and how the children dealing with situations than visualizing the various lumbering decayed semi-corpses.Moments of the book made me think: “Whoa, Lord of the Flies crossed with The Animal Farm.” Especially when David (the self-proclaimed leader) keeps promising that he is not there to “rule” but to “sort things out” for others while schemes to suppress any opposition, with force and even with death of other kids.All in all — an entertaining read for those who are not disturbed by such violence and gore.

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February 9, 2010 · 9:49 am

The Face on the Milk Carton

The Face on the Milk Carton (Janie Johnson, #1)by Caroline B. Cooney

So much fun to re-read this one, too! I forgot so many details and had a different recollection of the ending to the actual ending. Maybe I read the sequel and mixed them up. The pacing is just perfect: the suspense continues without sacrificing the passing of (quite a long) time it takes a teenager to deal with a truly traumatic event in life. Janie’s journey is entirely credible. Now I have to go and re-read Whatever Happened to Janie.

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